Beautiful Chaos

Everything can be pristine one minute, and then they all crash through the door. Coats and shoes flying, bags dropped, (sometimes) clothes dropped also (for the boy-folk), and within only a few minutes home, there are things out in every room, tossed aside in every corner of the house. Favorite current activities include making paper dragons with wire skeletons, recycle-bin creatures, cutting, drawing, taping, and gluing anything that seems like it might go well on a hodgepodge creation…so naturally there are remnants of all the projects also left about, even if they promised to clean it all up. There are water-bottles and snack bowls and library books and school books and legos and horses and yarn bits and randomly discarded colored pencils.

To add to the mayhem, a certain little miss has become very skilled at finding something (anything) that might be neatly put-away and tearing it apart to mine for treasures untold. So far we’ve hit under the bathroom sink, mama’s carry-bag, any of several “catch all the little annoying things mama has picked up from around the house” ziplock bags, bookshelves, bins, kitchen drawers, cans in the pantry, cereal boxes left out on the table, and at least half of all neatly-folded laundry piles. She’s the sweetest mischief-maker, but she does make me have to hustle to stay ahead. Who am I kidding? I’m rarely ahead, but I am working overtime to help the other kids recognize when something needs to be put away “before the little one gets into it”. If its not a bin to mine, its a package of wipes to extract one-by-one, or another child’s paper creation to tear apart into little pieces.

We have had to eliminate markers and glue sticks from the house for the time being, as those are the favorite finds, and both go straight in her mouth, caps off. I haven’t brought myself to taste one, but she really thinks those crayola markers are something delicious. Just when I think there are no more markers anywhere, she comes around the corner with one hanging out of her mouth, while clutching the cap in the other hand. Sigh.

There is a lot of dancing and shouting and laughing and a fair amount of whining until I start doling out chores for the whiners. Then whining subsides for a bit, both because they’re busy doing something, and they’ve also recognized for a short time that there isn’t all that much to whine about if its choosing between a frowny attitude and a chore-free morning. There are so. Many. Dishes. If we don’t get the dishwasher started at least twice a day, you can bet I will be up to my eyeballs in dishes when I venture in the kitchen.

Also, we are literally at the max capacity of our fridge. It’s not a full-size…maybe like a 3/4 size, and we’ve already transitioned to shopping at Costco and other places once a week in smaller quantities to make sure everything we bring home can fit in it. Inevitably, by the next shopping day, the space that was full to the brim is nearly empty, and the cycle starts over.

It’s busy, full, chaotic, and really, really beautiful. They have so much love for each other, and we laugh so much about so many weird things. They have all been very interested in the new baby on the way and what we will name him/her. Each one has suggested names for our consideration including: Marshawn (or Lynch if Marshawn doesn’t make the cut), Susie Sunshine, John (for a girl), and Judah #2, among others.

I am spent and full at the same time, grateful for each one and the time we have together.

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Update on run/walk goal for week 37 (the goal is to complete at least 10 miles per week): 15.5 Run/Walk miles traveled, 436mi in 2015

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“Jesus said, ‘What do you want Me to do for you?’ And the blind man said to Him, ‘Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.” Mark 10:51